The Vagabond
by Stupidera
Summary: Ryan x Gavin. Achievement Hunter GTA V AU. Ryan is a gang member and ends up falling in love with a regular citizen named Gavin. Will he be able to keep his cover for long? Rating will change.
1. Chapter 1

Los Santos was a bustling and busy city during the day, with a stream of people flooding the sidewalks and an ocean of cars in the streets. However, the opposite can be said for Los Santos at night. Once the sun hides behind the mountains, that's when things take a turn. The sensible people know better than to venture out into the streets at night. The not so sensible people, however, don't heed the warnings that are whispered amongst the residents. For those who are brave enough to step into the darkness of the city, usually are met with a grim fate of either being mugged or stabbed to death.

He's seen it many times before, time and time again. Body after body piled up in dumpsters. Drugs strewn out in allies. Prostitutes littered the corners of sidewalks. Men eagerly stalking dark areas with knife ready to pierce any unlucky sucker they lay their eyes on. Sometimes muggers will even try to rob each other. It's rather funny. The excitement of the large town at night was enough to keep the insane happy for the rest of their life.

Or so he thought. It actually got quite boring after awhile, after five years of the same thing over and over. He's seen it all by this point, and he never thought that was possible. Sure, taking on a persona of a crazed man in a skull mask and joining a gang SEEMED fun at the time, but now it's just repetitive and quite frankly annoying. After all, there are so many rules they have to follow, and there's one thing the skull mask sporting man hated: rules. Well, rules and yellow cars. Those things are hideous.

Another night crept up quicker than he had anticipated it, and soon the man known as James Ryan Haywood changed into The Vagabond. Or just Vagabond for short. Once he and his crew are all dressed up in their attire and all have their masks covering their face, they go out of their way to do everything and anything in order to make their gang money and spread the word of their organization on the down low in order to recruit new members.

Their crew is fairly small, only becoming a thing a few years prior, so only a handful of people are actually active. Ryan would have to wager around 100 people or slightly more. It was a close-knit crew and well kept, despite all the dirty activities they pull off almost every night. They were slowly becoming one of the most feared gangs in the city. That was mostly due to Ryan himself.

The Vagabond was known to be ruthless, skilled, cunning, manipulative, psychopathic in every sense. Ryan himself didn't see where all those assessments were coming from, but he assumed it was good for his reputation; his "job" required that from him either way. But after awhile, he started to become bored and ran out of creative ways to make people beg for their lives. He really only joined because, well, he was already doing what he's doing now before the crew was formed, so he figured why not do it full time with other people who enjoy the same things he does?

But there Ryan was, once again, as Vagabond, standing along side his masked crew members and ready to take on another night. He silently noted a few of the masks he saw, recognizing some of his friends. He only knew them by mask, not by face or their real name. Each member had their own personal mask and code name. There are many rules you have to follow to be in this gang, but two main ones were, 1. Never reveal your name, and 2. Never, EVER, remove your mask under any circumstances.

It was because of this rule that no one was able to maintain a real friendship within the gang, for they couldn't even show their faces to each other. It was too dangerous, and if anyone were to betray them, they could easily rat out the entire gang all at once. So the strict rule was set in place.

Ryan made his way through the quiet and dimly lit streets of Los Santos, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his leather jacket while his eyes gazed around for any sign of life. There weren't any, either because the weather was slowly turning icy, or because by now most people had a sense of mind not to go out just to get killed. Letting out a muffled sigh behind his mask, the man shook his head in frustration. It's not like he would really do anything to whoever he saw out in the night anyway. Not only was he not particularly in the mood to slit someone's throat and take their money, but he also couldn't think of any creative way to do it. So therefore, he would rather just walk the sidewalk in silence and peace.

After taking a few more steps, he spotted a figure out of the corner of his eye that darted down the alley closest to him. At first he thought nothing of it; it was probably just someone either hiding from him or it was one of his crew members. Both assumptions were wrong. Before he could even get past the gap between buildings, he heard a piercing scream from yards away. He stopped dead in his tracks out of sheer instinct. After the scream a shrill "Stop it!" came. Ryan could only assume that it was someone either being raped or mugged. Or both.

It was really none of his business, and if it was someone from his gang, he knew he shouldn't get involved or it could risk blowing his rep of the "lone wolf". But something in him was curious to know what was happening. Not only that, but he was bored out of his mind and was desperate to find some entertainment. If anything, if someone was being attacked he could at least stand by and watch and make sure they don't get away. After a few hesitated moments and quite a number of screams from the shadows, Ryan finally decided to take a detour into the pitch black alley.

Once he stepped in, the immediate change of lightening caused him to become pretty much blinded. His foot hit against a stray can and clanked as he accidentally kicked it a few inches. He ignored it, however, and continued to walk, gingerly feeling for the wall and using it as a guide until his eyes could adjust. Once he was just a few more feet in, he noticed two forms dancing in the shadows. One was pushed up against the wall while the other was shoved against them with what looked to be a weapon pressed tightly against the other's neck. Ryan's eyes were quick to pick up on it being a knife.

Neither seemed to notice him, though. So he stood for a moment and watched the scene play out. With the little bit of sight he was able to use, he noticed both were male, and their voices confirmed it. Ryan would have sworn that the first scream he heard was from a woman; it was so high pitched. The one against the wall seemed to be begging for his life while the one holding him down was threatening that he would slice him in half if he didn't hand over his money.

Ryan rolled his eyes. Some muggers have the worst lines. There was one other thing he noticed, though, and that was the fact this particular mugger didn't have a mask on. Meaning he wasn't one of his own. This caused a particular and sinister grin to appear behind the leather skull that covered his face. He never took out a mugger before. It sounded like fun. He would definitely enjoy seeing someone who thinks he's tough bow before him and beg for his life.

It sounded like a good idea, so without a second thought, The Vagabond was on the attack. With a swift movement of his wrist, a pocket knife sprang out of his pocket and breathed the chilled night air. The "ka-chik" that the knife made caused a slight falter in the mugger's movements and he turned his head to check out the source of the sound. By that time, it was already too late. The Vagabond was behind the man and had his body pressed tightly against him, one arm gripped firmly against the other man's knife handle while he held his own hovering above the mugger's neck.

"Move and I'll sever your head." He whispered in a low voice. That voice always seemed to come out of no where when he was in the middle of one of his "errands" and he couldn't control it, not that he really realized he made such a tone. Ryan wasn't expecting the man to give in so easily, and he was correct. With a dry laugh, the man replied, "with that small blade? You're dreaming." As he made his reply, he also made an attempt to free his weaponized hand from The Vagabond's grip, but was unable to move an inch. Ryan held firm and refused to let him go, and it was becoming quickly apparent to the mugger that he was much weaker than the man behind him.

Ryan didn't answer immediately, and instead stayed silent; playing a little mind game with his victim. "Man, what do you want? I'm in the middle of something." The attacker's shaky voice rang out again, his body stiffing up enough for Ryan to feel it just from the way his body was against his. "I think it's cute that you believe you can talk back to me." Ryan answered finally, his voice smooth and low, dripping with poisoned honey.

Giving a jerk of his arm, the man made another desperate attempt to free himself. This only further agitated Ryan and caused him to squeeze the knife he was holding tighter against the exposed neck. "Alright, alright!" The man shouted. "Just take anything you want from me and let me go!" He pleaded. Ryan was almost taken back by the sudden outburst; not expecting him to give up that easily. He was really hoping for more of a fight, but instead he got a weak man who only took advantage of those who are smaller than him.

The Vagabond let out another sigh. It wasn't even worth taking his man's life at this point. There would be no fun to it without a good fight and struggle. Without a second thought, the masked man released the mugger and shoved him to the ground, not for any reason besides he wanted to prove he was serious about what he was about to say. "Beat it, this is my turf. If I catch you around here again I won't let you off so easily." Ryan hated sounding like one of those "typical" gang members, but it was also fun. He mostly said things like that ironically.

Getting the hint, the attacker nodded quickly and scrambled to his feet before dashing out of the alley and back out into the streets. Ryan could hear the sound of something metallic crashing to the ground, and he assumed the man must have ran into a trashcan. The imagery made him chuckle just a bit. As his eyes gazed down to the floor, he noticed the attacker left his knife. The blade was slightly smaller than his own, but he figured he'd take it as a souvenir.

Once he picked the blade up and stood up straight again, that was when he remember that there was someone else there as well. The victim who was still plastered against the wall and not moving an inch. Ryan figured the poor man was probably scared out of his mind by now, especially after being left alone with The Vagabond himself. If the mugger didn't scare him enough, he certainly would. Everyone feared him.

Ryan was about to turn to walk away, since his fun was over with, when a small voice stopped him. "Thank you." The man against the wall spoke, finally peeling himself away from the brick and stepping forward towards the masked man. A deafening pause was implemented before the other answered back. "What?"

"What" was the only thing he could think to say, for he was very confused at the moment. He couldn't imagine any reason why this guy would be thanking him. He should be running in fear from him. But he's not. "I said thanks." The victim replied back, this time sounding a little more confidant. Perhaps it was because it was dark and he couldn't see that he wasn't scared?

That was easily fixable. Ryan let out a small laugh before turning towards the man. Feeling like being dramatic, he spoke up with an authoritative voice. "Do you not realize who I am? You should not be thanking me, you should be running in fear!" He emphasized his point by stepping backwards onto the sidewalk so he body was illuminated by the streetlight. He held his arms out into the air as if to say "behold my presence." He sported a smirk behind his mask at his little show, feeling rather accomplished.

However, the other didn't seem that phased. Instead, he simply followed Ryan out into the street. Seeing him in light for the first time, Ryan quickly realized why this guy had no chance against that weakling. He looked like he was barely 100 pounds. He also looked at least two inches shorter than Ryan was. Brown hair poked up and spiked strands went every which way. Was his hair messed up by the tussle or did his hair always look that messy? Ryan shook his head a bit and cleared his throat, waiting for some sort of response as the other looked him up and down. He was feeling rather awkward.

"No?" The brunette finally replied. "I don't believe I know any weirdoes wearing black masks." His voice came out in a thick English accent, which The Vagabond was just noticing after hearing him speak more than two words at a time. His comment about his mask made him a bit pissed off, though. Now he really just wanted to beat this guy down. But of course that wouldn't be fun judging by how tiny he was. "Um. . .The Vagabond?" He replied back slowly.

The only response he got was a shake of the head. He couldn't believe it, someone in this city didn't know about him. That was rare. Ryan stared at the strange man for awhile longer before waving him off and turning away from him. "Whatever. Bye." He dismissed him, however the brunette didn't seem to want to let up. "Hey wait! You saved me, I need to repay you now. Or else I'll feel bad." He chased after the gang member and walked next to him. "My name is Gavin, by the way. I don't usually like to bother people because well, it's just such a huge bother." He waved his hand before continuing. "But you're the first person to actually do something about me getting mugged. So I think you at least deserve to be thanked properly."

Ryan was about to ignore the man, but he suddenly stopped and looked down towards him. "Wait, this happened more than once?" He questioned with a bit of curiosity. Gavin nodded, a bit too eager for the conversation they were having. "Yup! It happens at least twice a week! I've learned to only carry ten dollars on me when I go out just in case. But let me take you out and buy you a drink or something? You know, just to say thanks."

Shaking his head, Ryan continued walking. "You've said thanks enough, I don't think you need to do anything else." It's not like he really hated to hang out with people, he was fine going out for a drink with friends or even going to a bar and chatting with strangers. It's just, going to a bar in his obvious gang getup was probably not a great idea. It was dangerous to be around one person for such a long time, for there was a higher chance that he would be caught. It usually goes, he scares the shit out of someone and they run, he robs someone blind, or he straight up kills them. He's never interacted with someone in his mask for this long.

The only saving grace was that this guy didn't know who he was. However, if he were to hang around him for a long enough time that Gavin got an ear for his voice and his figure, and then he learns that he's a bad guy, then things would certainly be bad for him. So he had to avoid that at all costs and get away from him as soon as possible. However, it seemed like Gavin wasn't going to give up easily.

"Alright, well if you don't want to go to the bar we could go to a restaurant? Or maybe a strip club?" The taller of the two nearly choked at the suggestion of a strip club. It was so random, and a very dumb idea. Then again, everything about this guy seemed to scream "dumb." Gavin groaned and folded his arms. "Come on. You pick a place then. Just for the night let me repay you."

Ryan's eye visibly twitched as he stopped in his tracks once more and glared at Gavin. "You really want to that badly?" What was he doing? He couldn't risk blowing his cover just for some British idiot. But nevertheless there he was, actually about to agree with this dumb idea. "Fine. But only for two hours. That's all you get."

Gavin's eyes sparkled a bit after he was finally allowed to do what he wanted, and Ryan could see the colouring of his hues. A faded greenish blue. It was definitely an interesting colour. The masked man shook his head. Why was he staring into this strangers eyes? That wasn't normal. Nothing about this situation was normal and it didn't take a genius to understand that.

Regardless, Ryan was hoping he could get this night over with quickly and just go home and sleep. He was feeling exhausted at that moment. He opened his mouth to speak once more. "Then I'm picking the place."


	2. Chapter 2

It was a long and quiet walk down the darken sidewalks as the two males made their way towards Gavin's car. Ryan never took his vehicle out for multiple reasons, so he was glad when the Brit told him he had a car parked a little away from where they were. What he was doing this far from his car, the Vagabond didn't want to know. He was simply focused on spending the next two hours with this idiot and getting away from him as quick as possible.

Ryan barely acknowledged the graveyard they passed along the way. It brought up very fond memories of when he was a child and he would hang out behind the tombstones and scare people who were mourning. He smiled at the memory. Those were good times.

Soon, from a distance, the form of the back of a car came peeking from the shadows. With a squint of his eyes, Ryan was able to read the licences plate of the car. "Gav1no". The masked man gave a quirked brow that the other couldn't see, and decided to let the weird name go. Once they approached the car, Gavin opened up the driver's side door and sat down. Ryan shook his head in disbelief as he got into the passenger's side. "You don't even lock your doors? It's like you're begging to have everything robbed from you."

The brunette gave a casual shrug before jabbing the key into the ignition and starting the vehicle up. "So where is it you want to go?" He flashed a cheeky grin before adding "Vagabond." Ryan physically flinched at hearing the name; he was really hoping Gavin wouldn't remember it. "Here. . .I'll enter the address." He swiped his finger over the GPS until he found the correct one, then let the machine do the rest. He hoped Gavin would be able to follow such simple directions.

"Got it!" The brunette gave an excited yell. This guy was too loud for comfort. He began to drive off, and as soon as the car started to move Ryan got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something interesting was going to happen, he could feel it. He swallowed down the feeling and ignored it, instead focusing on the quiet hum of the radio as it played the rock station at a low level. "You uh. Like this type of music too? You don't seem like the type." Ryan commented with a slow and careful tone.

"Well yeah, who doesn't like it?" Gavin replied in return with an amused laugh. Ryan simply shrugged and leaned his arm against the edge of the window, choosing to remain quiet for the duration of the drive. Gavin, on the other hand, was a chatter box. He talked about random things he watched, random people he saw, random games he played; pretty much anything just to fill the gap of silence that was caused by the skull mask wearing man. Ryan supposed it didn't bother him much, since Gavin had some pretty interesting stories. Although, the Brit's constant talking over the songs he liked was a bit annoying.

Finally, the pair arrived at their destination: a small, yellow building sandwiched between two other establishments. The front door had a walk way running out to the streets, the walkway was overcast by a sign that read "Tequi-la-la". It was a small and vaguely known night club that didn't have a lot of frequent visitors. It was also always dark inside: a perfect combination for the Vagabond.

Gavin looked the place over as he got out of the car, raising an eyebrow. "I asked if you wanted to go to a bar and you said no. But this is a bar." He proceeded towards the entrance as Ryan also got out. Giving an annoyed sigh, The Vagabond quickly locked the doors; secretly hoping Gavin didn't leave the keys in there, before walking after the brunette. "It's not JUST a bar, Gavin. It's got my favourite thing: a pool table." Two things in that sentence was a lie, one: pool tables weren't his favourite thing, two: he really just wanted to go down to the basement because he knew it would be less crowded.

"Oh sweet, they have Snooker?" Gavin asked with glee. The two reached the entrance before Ryan turned to the Brit and tilted his head. "Uh. No? They have pool. And a dart board." He replied back with a confused tone. Gavin shrugged and walked through the door."Whatever. It's pretty much the same thing anyway." Luckily for The Vagabond, there was no bouncer at the door to check their IDs. The only time they needed to get their IDs checked was when they bought alcohol. And seeing how he doesn't drink anyway, he didn't need to worry about that.

Trying to hide himself from any viewing eyes, Ryan quickly made his way from the main floor down to the basement where they held the arcade machines and pool table. Gavin was quick to follow behind him while blathering on yet again. "Wow this place is cool as dicks!"

"Uh. Okay." Ryan retorted as he found a place on a small table surrounded with folding chairs for the gamers to have a seat between games. He plopped down and folded his arms as he watched the Brit standing near the pool table with a hyped grin. "Come on! We might as well enjoy ourselves while we're here, right? Let's play a round of Snooker."

Leaning forward in his chair, Ryan sighed loudly and shook his head. "It's pool. And no thanks, I'm alright. I kind of just want to sit here for awhile and relax. It's too late to be so wound up." After his remark, Gavin's face visibly fell with disappointment. "But you said it was your favourite." He pointed out, making the masked man pause in his statement. ". . .I /did/ say that. But I'm also tired and I want to relax. You go play by yourself."

After shooing the brunette off, Ryan turned in his chair and propped his elbow against the table before leaning his head against the palm of his hand. Gavin puffed his cheeks out in frustration and disregarded the grumpy man for now, much to Ryan's joy.

Over the next half hour, the sounds of hard plastic clanking against each other and the occasional "dammit" was all Ryan heard as he stared at the clock hanging on the wall of the night club. He watched the minutes tick by with agonizing hesitation. Only an hour and a half to go before he was able to go home and sleep. Just an hour and a half he had to stay here. That's what he kept telling himself.

Eventually, Gavin seemed to grow bored of playing pool by himself and placed the pool stick against the table before walking over to the other man, taking a chair in front of him and scooting it out so he could sit down. He eyed Ryan's hidden face with an annoyed pout before speaking. "Okay so that was bloody fun. Now do you want to actually do something instead of sitting there like a party pooper?"

Blue hues pierced green as The Vagabond narrowed his eyes and glared straight into Gavin's. Gavin could see his eyes quite clearly in the dull light that hung from a lamp over their heads, and suddenly his face went from annoyed to a slight fearful expression, which confused Ryan just a bit. The brunette looked away quickly and stuttered out. "Or I could buy you a drink from upstairs?"

Waving off the sudden change in mood, Ryan shrugged his shoulders up and shook his head. "Nah, man. I'm good. I don't drink." Gavin stared at him, looking like he wanted to say something really bad. It was like he was going to explode if he didn't get the question in his head out into the open, but before questioning him, he went silent and stared at the table.

After that awkward exchange, the two sat in silence for what felt like an hour, but sadly was only two minutes. Soon enough, the chatter box opened his mouth to break the tension. "You can leave if you want. I'm not keeping you hostage here."

The remark made Ryan cock an eyebrow. Why the sudden turn? He wasn't complaining, though. And Gavin didn't have to tell him twice that he could leave; he was happy to oblige. With only a couple seconds delay, The Vagabond stood to his feet, the sound of the chair scraping against the wood was deafening. He held his hand out to Gavin and said, "thanks for the exciting evening, and you're welcome for saving you."

The brunette stared up at the outstretched hand for a few moments before taking it and giving Ryan a weak handshake. "Yeah." By his reply, Ryan could tell that Gavin could practically feel the sarcasm in his voice when he said "exciting evening". Not only that, but the hurt look the Brit was sporting almost made Ryan regret saying anything at all. Almost. Once they finished their awkward handshake, the masked man, with a brisk pace, made his way back up the stairs and into the night air.

He was a bit frustrated that he had wasted almost an hour of his night, but he knew that he wasn't going to do anything that night anyway. The real problem was that now he had a long walk back to his house. He made an attempt to take in a deep breath of air, but was instead met with the smell of rubber and leather. He stupidly forgot he was wearing his mask.

Of course he would forget something stupid like that, because he spent too much time with that moron. Ryan began to walk down the streets; the still and silent darkness calming him and causing him to become even more sleepy than he had been. It had been a strange night, but he knew he would forget about it soon enough. He'd forget all about that British guy that he had mistakenly saved and willingly spent time with. He'd forget that he came dangerously close to letting someone reveal his identity for such a dumb reason.

He'd forget all about those olive coloured eyes that flashed with sadness when he ditched him. "Dammit James. Get it together." Ryan shook his head furiously, as if the action alone would get Gavin out of his head. Gavin was like a parasite in his brain, but he knew sooner or later his memory would be erased and he would feel more like himself. He was just tired, that's all.

Little did he know, that was going to be impossible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~This means a time skip : D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a mere three days since that run in with that weirdo whose name Ryan had already forgotten, and he felt like he was finally getting back up to speed with his activities. The creative juices were starting to flow through his brain and he was coming up with loads of different plans to lure people and take them out. Things were going great, and he had a good feeling that he would be ranked up after all the work he was about to put in.

However, within a single minute all that came crumbling down on top of him. A familiar scream came from behind him, close by, and it was like his instincts kicked off and whatever part of his brain that thought it was a good idea to check out the sound the first time seemed to take over yet again. So there he found himself yet again going to check out the source of the struggled noises that seemed to be coming from another darken alley. Why do these things always take place there? Did muggers not know that behind buildings were probably a better idea?

He had a feeling already that he knew what he was going to find, and he was right this time around. A blue clad Brit plastered against the wall of a building, almost exactly in the same spot he was last time, and a larger man pinning him in place with a knife against his cheek. Why do none of the muggers in this city use guns? It's so idiotic. Any dumbass could fend off a knife. . .except this dumbass, it seems.

Ryan stood a few feet away; the darkness was enough to keep him covered up but not enough to block his view of the scene. Just leave, Ryan. Just leave. Walk away now and don't get involved. You helped him once, if he didn't learn his lesson the first time then that's his own fault. Let him go.

He didn't listen to himself at all.

There was a loud "cli-clack" sound that came from the shadows before the mugger found himself with the barrel of a pistol pointed right at his temple, and the piercing blue eyes of The Vagabond on the back of his head. With a slow motion, the assailant gazed up at his attacker. If there was enough light to show the colour of his face, Ryan would have seen it drain completely away when he saw the skull mask.

Barely giving any effort, Ryan then said "if you value your life, run." His tone came out more bored, with a slight hint of annoyance at himself for using such a lame line. But the message was clear, and the mugger was quick to drop his victim and run off with his tail between his legs. It was at that moment that Ryan wondered if he should change his mask so he could actually get someone who wouldn't run away at the sight of him. It was no fun for him.

No sounds of trashcans falling over this time, sadly, but Ryan did hear the amusing sound of the man screaming his head off as he ran through the darken night. Great, now he's going to draw attention to this spot. It would be a good idea to book it out of there while he could. The Vagabond turned to walk away as he shoved his gun back into his pocket, but felt a force grab onto the sleeve of his leather jacket and held him there.

He turned his head to find the source and saw that it was the Brit gazing up at him with what Ryan would describe as desperation but gratitude. The look confused him, until his eyes traveled down Gavin's arm and spotted a gash nestled stiffly between his shoulder and forearm. Dark liquid covered the blue fabric, and Ryan could see the shirt torn and frayed at the wound entry.

For a reason he couldn't explain, Ryan felt his heart flutter with worry, although he couldn't pinpoint the exact emotion he was feeling in that moment, all he could tell was that his heart felt like it was racing and he couldn't control is mouth from moving on its own. "Gavin, are you okay?" He sounded more concerned than he thought he would, but his question made the brunette smile a bit. "Yeah! It's alright. It doesn't hurt really. I think it stopped bleeding."

It clearly hadn't stopped, and Ryan barely heard what he said anyway, he was more focused on taking care of the wound before it got worse. "Just shut up and sit still." He commanded before leaning down on one knee in front of the Brit. He unzipped his jacket to reveal a black t-shirt, and then used his pocket knife to rip off a strip from the base of the shirt. Once he got a nice size of it cut off, he grabbed the brunette's arm and tied the cloth around the wound tight enough to put pressure on it so it would stop the bleeding.

"That should do it." He muttered to himself. He was no nurse, but he was rather impressed with himself that he thought so quickly. That rapidly faded when he realized what he just did. He very well may have just saved someone's life. Something he /never/ thought he'd do in his life. What was wrong with him?

Gavin must have seen the confusion in the masked man's eyes, because he then spoke up soon after. "Thanks for saving me again. That was really nice of you. I appreciate it." He waited until Ryan finally took his eyes away from his hurt arm and looked back at his face before continuing. "But uh. . .How the hell do you keep finding me?"

Ryan blinked quite a few times before tilting his head comically before replying in a somewhat high pitched and confused tone. "I don't know. . .I guess I just have a Gavin sense?" The Brit couldn't help but laugh at that response. It was a loud and obnoxious laugh, but some how it made Ryan smile behind his mask. The tension he was feeling in his heart quickly faded away and was replaced with. . .something warm?

It was probably nothing. He was just tired, again. That's all it was. Gavin opened his mouth and made an expression like he really wanted to ask a question, Ryan remembered that look from the first night they met. He had a feeling he knew what was going to come out of his mouth, that he wanted to repay him again. Thinking about the possibility of that happening, The Vagabond found himself feeling something he rarely feels: mixed emotions.

The look was wiped off Gavin's face and replaced with a sad smile. "Thanks again," was all he said before standing to his feet with a slight stagger before he began to walk away from the other man. Ryan stayed knelt there for a second or two in belief before straightening himself up and following the Brit. "Are you really sure you're okay to walk by yourself? Can you drive yourself to the hospital?"

Gavin turned around and waved his hand. "I'll be fine, mate! No need to worry. It's not even that bad, so I'll probably just sleep it off." Ryan physically winced at the lack of self preservation, but there was little he could do about the situation. He wasn't the boy's mother, so it's not like he could just drag him to the hospital. Especially with the way he was dressed.

It took all the self control he had not to go after the British man, and instead he watched him walk away and fade into the night. Ryan was sure this time he would never see him again, either because he would either die of blood loss or infection from an untreated wound, or simply because there's no way he'd run into the same guy three times in a row when there are over two million people in this city.

Boy, Ryan was getting tired of being wrong about so many things.


	3. Chapter 3

Yet again Ryan was left to be alone without the Brit, and yet again Ryan couldn't get him out of his head. Not only did he wonder if Gavin was alive or not, he also wondered what he was doing almost in the same place he was when they first met. Even though the British man was pretty much an open book, there was still so much about him Ryan didn't understand, and he felt like there was more to Gavin than what he was seeing. Ryan had always been a sort of scholar type man, so for someone like him to not understand what looked to be like such a simple person, it was starting to get to him.

Either way, it didn't matter much anymore; Gavin was probably dead in a ditch somewhere after bleeding out. So The Vagabond didn't have to worry about it. He would just go about his life and forget all about him without a single care in the world. He'd go back to his normal life- less than normal life he should say. And that would be the end of that.

Ryan shook his head quickly. If anyone where around at that moment they would have surely thought it was a weird thing to do out of no where. The Vagabond knew better by now than to expect what he believed would be what really happens. He had a sinking feeling that he would somehow see Gavin again, maybe getting robbed yet again, maybe getting stabbed yet again. He vowed that this time if that were to happen he would force him to go to the hospital instead of just letting him go.

No, he wouldn't! He wouldn't do that! He wouldn't care at all what happened to that idiot. If he wanted to bleed to death, then let him. He's not going to be held responsible for his life.

. . . . . .

Ryan sighed outwardly as he began to walk back home. He really needed to stop arguing with himself. He had never in his life felt so mixed up and confused over one little man.

Sleep might do him some good, even though he knew it wouldn't be a "good" sleep. He hasn't slept well in the past year. Maybe that's why he's being so weird.

Over the next four nights, Ryan decided to skip his adventuring into the night and just stayed home. He couldn't bring himself to gather up the motivation to go out hunting, or whatever you want to call it. To him it was either he went out to hunt people or he went out to kill time, instead of people.

On the fourth night, however, he finally decided to leave his house and go back out. For whatever reason, he just felt like that night was a good night to get out of the house and get some fresh air. So that's what he did.

As he made his way down the empty streets, he noticed a few random guys passing him. Even though they had their heads down as if they were attempting to avoid eye contact with anyone else they may run into, Ryan couldn't help but try to check every single one's face; thinking he might end up seeing a goofy grinning Brit looking back at him. It never happened, though.

After roaming for a full two hours, Ryan decided to give up and headed back home. He wasn't sure exactly what he was giving up on; finding someone to rob, or finding Gavin? Either way, he was done for the night and wanted to just get in bed and sleep. He would make sure to come back the next night.

And come back he did, every night after that with the same intention in mind: figuring out what happened to Gavin. He hated not knowing, even though he tried his best to tell himself he really didn't care. He did care, even if it was just him caring about figuring out this mystery, even that much was enough for him to keep coming back for the next three nights. But still he saw no sign of him.

Until the third time he went out. While strolling quietly across the street, one lone car drove past him. He stopped half way in the middle of the road to let it by,and once it had past he took a step to finish crossing, when he saw it; brown messy hair sticking up in random directions, blue button up shirt on top of blue jeans. He didn't even have to double check to know who it was.

Without thinking, Ryan took off in a full blown sprint towards the brown haired man. Once he approached him, Gavin looked like he was about to book it, but when he saw it was Ryan and not a mugger, he relaxed and gave the man a large smile. "Hey!" He chimed happily as he put his hand up in a greeting manor.

Ryan wasn't even sure where to start with this conversation, so he decided to ask the obvious question. "You're still alive?" It was a normal question, right? "I mean. . ." He continued, feeling rather dumb at that moment with how he phrased it. "You know, after that stabbing you received the other day. I figured. . ." He muttered the ending of the sentence as he looked away embarrassed.

Gavin merely laughed and waved his hand. "Nah, I told you it was fine. I had a nice rest and felt alright in the morning. It does look like it's going to scar though. Bummer." He shrugged his shoulders up before turning his head down towards his pocket, shoving his hand into it and rummaging around until he pulled out something. It took the masked man a few moments to realize what it was. A black, ripped up cloth that looked crusted with some sort of fluid.

Giving a quirked brow, Ryan looked up at the brunette's face as if asking the obvious question using his eyes only. Gavin only offered a large grin as he pushed the bloodied cloth into the other man's hands. "I'm returning it!" He said as if it was totally normal to keep a torn cloth that was covered with bodily fluids.

This boy really was interesting, and hard to read. ". . .Keep it. It's a gift." He replied back after staring hard at the object in question for quite awhile. Disregarding the strange offer, Ryan shifted on his feet and looked up towards the sky; doing anything to avoid eye contact with the brunette while he continued.

"So. . .Uh. I'm not really doing anything at the moment, do you want to hang out and do something?" The offer took both of them by surprise, and quite honestly Ryan was just as surprised as Gavin was that he asked that. It was definitely out of the ordinary, but if he was being honest with himself, he mostly did it because there was a nagging sensation in his brain that kept telling him to make it up to Gavin since he was so cold to him the first time they met and there was no need for it.

The shock on Gavin's face was then followed up with a question. "Are you sure?" The Vagabond wasn't a hundred percent sure, but he was already in too deep to back out now, so he nodded in confirmation. "Top!" the brunette shouted in reply. "We'll take my car again since it's not that far away. Where do you want to go?" The Brit began to walk in the same direction he was heading before, Ryan following close behind.

"The same place we went to last time will work. I trust you remember the directions on how to get there." The Vagabond replied, to which Gavin nodded like a frantic bobble head. Once they made it to the car, Ryan noticed a large dent in the side of the driver side door, sighing loudly and shaking his head. It was always something with this guy.

They made their way to the same bar they hung out last time, only the air was different this time. Not only was it colder, but it was also less dense with awkward tension. It was the same routine, they went in and headed straight for the basement. It was a quiet Wednesday evening and there was maybe four or five people besides them in the whole establishment. Perfect.

Gavin went to sit down at one of the tables, but Ryan was having none of it. They were actually going to do something this time around. The masked man grabbed a hold of the smaller male's arm and dragged him to the dart board. "Come on, up for a round of darts?" He asked as he let the brunette go to grab a few of the darts from the game board.

"Sure! I'm pretty good at throwing things. I have a theory that if you throw it while grabbing the tip you can hit it every single time!" Gavin took one of the darts and aimed his shot up to demonstrate what he meant. "I bet you 20 bucks I can make this first try."

Ryan chuckled lightly, readying up his own dart to throw after the Brit has had his turn. "Go ahead. But if you miss and I hit it, then you owe me 20 bucks." He said in return. Gavin agreed to his terms and lined up the dart before releasing it, successfully missing the board completely and smacking the dart against the wall, not even sticking it in the wall. "Hm. . ." He mumbled as he studied the dart on the floor as if he was thinking of where his plan could have failed at.

Stifling his laugh, the Vagabond took his turn. "It's not about how you hold it at all. You just need to know the proper aiming technique." He explained right before proving his point by flicking his wrist and releasing the dart, unlike Gavin's it stuck right next to the bulls eye, missing just by a hair. The brunette pouted as he reached into his pocket and fished out a 20 dollar bill. "You didn't hit the bulls eye so you should only get 10 dollars."

The masked man laughed once again, this time a bit louder and more genuine. "Sure, sure. You're just trying to jip me out of my earned 20 dollar bill." Gavin snickered at that comment and handed the taller man the bill. "Probably just lucky that's all."

They continued playing for awhile longer; Gavin ended up getting one dart to stick into the board, which he was very proud of. Needless to say, Ryan ended up winning. But he still congratulated the other on his accomplishment.

After they finished their little game, Ryan suggested they play some pool. He also won that game; Gavin not getting a single ball into the hole. Even though he kept losing, the brunette was having a lot of fun hanging out with the masked man. And Ryan failed to notice one thing: he smiled more in those two hours than he has in the past three years.

Once the two realized it was nearing morning and the sun was about to come up, they decided to call it a night and go their separate ways. Before falling asleep, Ryan reflected back on the night he had with Gavin. He had a lot of fun, more fun than he had in awhile that didn't involve slaughtering someone mercilessly. Maybe the Brit wasn't as bad as he thought.

The next night he went out again, ready to take on whatever faced his way. He was feeling in a rather good mood for whatever reason he couldn't pinpoint, but he didn't question it. He simply took it like it was.

While passing by the cemetery, his ears caught the sound of struggling from within the graveyard. He had no idea how he always ended up coincidentally being around when it happened, but it was like deja vu all over again; he recognized the voice of one of the people quite easily. It was Gavin. Without hesitation, Ryan readied his pistol from inside his jacket pocket and rushed through the broken gate of the cemetery. The graveyard was very old and poorly maintained, so no one did a single thing about the busted open fence that lead into the yard.

That was a stroke of luck for Ryan, since he was able to slip in quickly and find the source of the struggling. In the distance he saw what looked like a blob of shadows hunched over one of the gravestones. He rushed over quickly, only to stop a few yards away.

His eyes widened when he realized what was going on. The man hovered over the other looked to be a male with almost the same build as Ryan, with a black suit and a bison mask. He recognized him as someone who just recently joined their crew. That wasn't the only thing that made him stop. Underneath the suited man, he had the brunette pinned down; his shirt shredded and ripped open until his chest was exposed. When the bison masked man reached down for the Brit's trousers, that's when Ryan understood full well what he was intending, and he snapped forward to act quickly.

Ryan dashed towards the two and knocked his crew member off the smaller male and shoved him to the ground, pinning him down and glaring down at him. He snarled in warning like a feral animal before spatting out. "Get the fuck out of here. And don't come near him again, or you'll have me to deal with." It took all he had not to slit his throat right then and there, and he would have if he had not been part of his gang.

Hidden eyes glared back at Ryan before a voice came from the animal mask. "What the hell is your problem?" The Bison answered back, maneuvering his way from under Ryan and standing up to his feet, dusting his pants off and scoffing. "Whatever. He bored me anyway." He said, but Ryan knew better. He was giving up because he was scared of him. Everyone was; usually it would be a problem, but right now it really served a good purpose. He wasn't in the mood to slaughter one of his own.

Once the man had fully disappeared into the night, Ryan turned his attention to the Brit laying on the ground. He began to worry if he was okay, and if he even understood what was going on. He was an idiot, so he wouldn't put it past him. But Gavin was smarter than he looked, and he understood that much. The Vagabond reached his hand out to Gavin in an offering, which Gavin thankfully took before commenting, "wow, you saved me again. What are the chances?"

The Vagabond looked at Gavin's face, searching for any signs of mental scarring or something like that. He wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for, but he was searching for some sign of emotion on his face. The brunette squeezed Ryan's hand tightly as he used the other's stable footing to help himself stand up. Once he was fully on both his feet, he dusted himself free of dirt and smiled up at the taller man, which made Ryan feel more at ease. "That guy was a weirdo. First time someone ripped my clothes up just to mug me. I keep my wallet in my pants, not shirt. Look what he did!"

The taller man sighed in relief. It was better that Gavin only thought he was being mugged and didn't have any idea what his attacker was really planning. Nodding a bit, The Vagabond unzipped his jacket and slipped it off his shoulders before slinging it around the Brit's. "Yeah. . .I'm starting to think someone is going out of their way to call muggers just to come after you."

The gesture caused Gavin's face to fall into a confused gaze, but he didn't question it, only wrapped the jacket around him gratefully; it was rather cold after all. He made it obvious by shivering quite a bit as he snuggled into the leather jacket. Ryan had to stop himself before he attempted to hug the brunette to keep him warm. The idea made him wonder what was wrong with him.

Not only that, but the idea of Gavin being sexually assaulted by anyone made his blood boil more than it should have. Deep down he started to feel protective and possessive. Those feelings scared him a bit; he had thought he had killed those emotions off long ago. But here they were, bubbling back to the surface, and for this British idiot. Was he merely mistaking his feelings?

Before he could really debate with himself, Gavin spoke up again. "This is what, the fourth time you have met me randomly? I'm beginning to think you're stalking me." He could tell within Gavin's tone that he was kidding, but still it made Ryan huff. "Whatever. It's coincidence."

He then looked around at their surroundings, remembering this place was very close to the last few times he has seen the brunette. "But. . .other than that, you're always out here around this time of night. Why?"

Gavin hummed before answering, as if he was trying to think of the reason. "Well, my job requires me to be out until pretty late, that's all. I always get home around midnight." Ryan cocked his head a bit. He assumed it was a good enough answer; many people have to work late nights. "Okay, but. . .that still doesn't explain why you are always around this part of town and walking around randomly at night."

Ryan mentally slapped himself for bringing that up. What if Gavin brings up the fact that he does that as well? He couldn't tell him that the reason he stalked around these parts was because his home was close by and it was the easiest part of town to find wandering dumbasses like Gavin who would make an easy target to steal from. No wonder the poor guy kept getting mugged; everyone must know that as well.

Luckily, he didn't bring it up. Instead he looked down, suddenly gaining a quiet attitude. Ryan wasn't sure if he would even answer, but he waited still. After a moment, the Brit replied to his questioning. "The thing is. . .every night to come to this graveyard to visit my friend." He motioned his head down towards the grave the duo were currently standing on.

The masked man looked down, spotting the name on the in-ground gravestone. "Michael Jones." Ryan looked back up at Gavin as he continued. "He was my best friend. But he was gunned down a year ago. The authorities said it was by this man wearing a wolf mask."

Gavin continued on with a few details about the case, but everything he said after that didn't reach Ryan's ears, he was too shocked over what he had just heard. A wolf mask, that sounded like he was talking about their leader. He couldn't believe the coincidence of this circumstance. What were the chances that this idiot and he would actually have a connection somewhere? He was broken out of his trance when Gavin cracked a smile.

"Ah, but I don't hate all people in masks. I mean you seem cool. I like you." After that comment, Ryan felt his heart skip a beat, but he couldn't explain why. Everything else seemed to fade away, and it was just him and Gavin's words in his brain. "I like you. I like you. I like you." That phrase echoed in his head; he didn't realize that he was thinking about it that much, but he was. Maybe he was just feeling cold since he didn't have his coat on. His brain was starting to freeze.

He wasn't sure what to say to his compliment, he simply looked away. He was really glad at that moment Gavin couldn't see his embarrassed face. He then scratched the back of his head before he mumbled out a few words. Gavin snickered a bit and leaned in closer to the taller man. "You what?" Speaking a little louder, he repeated himself. "I said. . .that uh, whenever you come out at night I will accompany you. So that you don't get mugged again."

Gavin's face lit up after he heard his offer, and he nodded sheepishly. "Okay! that sounds great!"

What was he doing? Why was he saying things like this? He isn't responsible for the idiot guy's life, and he has told himself that over and over. And yet. . .strangely all the risks that were involved with it seemed worth it to Ryan. He ignored the part of his brain that told him to back off Gavin and don't bother with him, and instead listened to the part of his brain that was telling him to keep this British moron safe. The thought something happening to Gavin while he wasn't around made him lose his composure, and he didn't want to see that happen. He couldn't think of any reason why he would want to, but something deep down told him he should stick by his side no matter what.

So that's what he decided to do, even if in the end it would come back to haunt him.


	4. Chapter 4

Over the next month, Ryan kept his promise and made sure to meet up with Gavin every night he would be out roaming the streets. All the while, The Vagabond made sure to be careful not to let his identity slip out. It took only a couple weeks for Gavin to ask where Ryan lived, and the gang member had to come up with a fast lie and tell him that he lived on the other side of the city. He seemed to buy it and dropped the conversation. Nothing else came up regarding anything personal about Ryan, like his real name or why he wears a mask, so he was very relieved. He dreaded the idea of Gavin asking him to remove his mask, and it would be the worst possible scenario for him.

But despite the fear, Ryan continued to make sure Gavin made it through each night safe and sound, and even escorted him home a few times. He knew where Gavin lived, however he never went inside his home. He began to wonder what the house of a man like him looked like. But he figured he'd never find out. It seemed like every night he spent with the Brit, Ryan felt his frozen heart grow warmer and warmer, and he couldn't explain why. He ignored the nagging feeling in the back of his brain that was attempting to communicate with him about emotions, because he didn't want to admit he had them. He didn't want to admit that he cared about this guy; cared about him a lot.

Gavin expressed his gratitude to Ryan for keeping him out of danger time and time again by attempting to buy him drinks, even though The Vagabond had told him he does not drink. He also offered to take him any place he wanted to go and hang out, but Ryan always picked the same place. Gavin had told him that he was a boring bloke, but instead of lashing out at him like he would do to anyone else, he simply laughed and agreed. He didn't act normal around the Brit, and he was starting to worry himself. He even tried to stop going out and meeting up with Gavin altogether for awhile, but it only lasted two days before he found himself desperately searching for the Brit and making sure to apologize when he saw him for being gone for such a long time.

Ryan wasn't a sane man by any means, but when he was around Gavin he felt. . .almost like a normal person. But then he looks at himself in the mirror and when nothing but a face covered with a skull mask and dead, emotionless eyes stare back at him, he remembers that he's not a normal person. He's not James Ryan Haywood anymore, he's The Vagabond. The Vagabond isn't normal, he's a ruthless and cold serial killer that no one finds comfort in, that no one relaxes around, that no one enjoys being around.

Except. . .this silly little British boy named Gavin Free.

Despite his appearance, despite knowing nearly nothing about him, despite seeing everyone's reaction to seeing him, despite the amount of murderous intent he gives off, Gavin still sticks by his side. But why? Was it just because he knew he'd protect him? Was he not scared of him because he hasn't seen what Ryan can really do? He didn't understand Gavin at all, and he was beginning to not care to understand. The only thing he cared about at that moment was just spending every moment he could with this clueless little man. And that's all it was to him, nothing more, nothing less.

That was, until one night in particular. He had just gotten done taking Gavin home,(well more like him riding in Gavin's car while Gavin drove home and then Ryan would walk back to his house later on) when the Brit stopped him as he was turning towards the direction his house was located. Ryan stared down at the brunette and didn't speak a single word as Gavin confessed to him what he was holding inside for quite awhile. "I enjoy spending time with you, so thanks for hanging out with me. I've been feeling really lonely since Michael died, and I have been hoping for someone to show up who's as kind as you are and take his place."

Ryan nodded, feeling rather happy in that moment that he actually was right that Gavin liked to hang out with him, but before the Brit let Ryan go, he said one last thing. "I loved him a lot. He was way more than my best friend." Before he parted, the brunette gave the masked man a gentle smile, then left him stunned at his doorway and entered his house, not to return for the rest of the night. Needless to say, Ryan was confused by the statement, and couldn't help but toss the statement around in his head for the remaining few hours he was awake. It was the only thing he could think about; nothing else was present at that moment as he walked home in silence and attempted to sleep.

The sleep didn't come easily due to his overloaded brain, but he eventually snuggled up under the covers and fell into a slumber that once arrived, was actually pretty decent. For the first time in years he was able to enter a deep sleep, not waking up until he had gotten a full eight hours of restful sleep. Not only that, but for the first time since he was a teenager he had a dream. Waking, he remembered the dream in full, playing it over in his conscious brain a couple times.

He remembers himself being in the dream, he was looking out from a seated position on a chair as he watched the sun setting behind mountains in the distance. The soft orange and red sky slowly faded into a darker and more sinister colour, but even so, he felt at ease. Looking to the left of him, he understood why he felt that way. Nestled under his arm and covered with half of a throw blanket that he was also taking part in using, was the gentle sleeping face of a brunette wearing a blue shirt. Ryan couldn't control the large smile that spread across his face, he knew in his dream that the two of them had been together for a long time and were peacefully enjoying their life.

Recalling the dream, and then recalling it again, and again, the knots in Ryan's brain were starting to unravel. All the questions he was asking himself were being answered, the problems were being resolved, theories were becoming facts. He couldn't deny it any longer, and he didn't want to deny it either. He understood now.

He was in love with the silly little British boy.

The next night, Ryan went out as per usual, but he didn't feel the same as he usually did. He was feeling a little nervous to meet up with Gavin this time, but he made a decision to remain calm while around him and not make it obvious that he was in love with him. He was cocky that he would be able to keep his cool the entire time. He was The Vagabond, after all! He wouldn't be caught off guard by a tiny British man.

Once the brunette's figure came into view, stood next to his car like usual, Ryan felt his heart leap into his throat and he nearly choked. Smooth move, Vagabond. Attempting to recover from his little freak out, he simply nodding his head and waved at the Brit.

"You ready to go?" Gavin asked as Ryan approached. "Go where?" He replied curiously, even though he already knew the answer, since they go to the same place every single night. Gavin cocked his head and folded his arms, giving a fake pout. "What do you mean where? The place we talked about going to yesterday. And the day before. And the month before! Boring bastard, you only go one place."

Ryan waved his hand and took it upon himself to help himself into the passenger's seat of Gavin's car. "Yeah, yeah. I was only messing with you. Let's get going. You said this time you were going to beat me in darts, so let's see if you can keep that promise." Gavin rolled his eyes and got into the driver's side, starting it up. "I bet you ten bucks." Ryan laughed at the random bet. "Only ten this time? You don't sound confident."

As the two made their way to the bar, Ryan gazed from the window to the Brit, and back to the window. He was debating whether or not to bring up the dream he had, but he silenced himself before he got it out. He wanted to tell Gavin how he felt, but he was nervous. What if it ruined their friendship? What if he didn't feel the same way for him and he was only imagining that he might? There was too much to risk, so he chose to remain silent about it.

Once they arrived at the bar, Ryan headed down to the basement while Gavin stayed back and chilled out upstairs in the main bar area for awhile. Ryan was wondering what he could possibly be doing up there, but figured it didn't matter much, he would return soon enough. So until then, he sat down at one of the tables and scanned the place. There were a little more people there than usual, probably because it was a weekend. But he wasn't too worried, he would just simply move to a different spot if anyone got too close. He was confident he knew what he was doing.

It took about ten minutes for the Brit to return, and when he did he was carrying two large glasses full of light yellow liquid. Ryan watched the bubbles float to the top where a film of foam lay, and knew right away what it was: beer. His nose scrunched up at the sight of it. He always hated drinking, but not only that, he hated the smell of it too. Gavin sat down next to him, smoothly sliding over one of the beverages and giving him a sly smirk. "Tonight's the night, Bondy."

Oh, right, that dumb nickname Gavin came up with for him just a week ago. He hated the hell out of it. But never said anything about it, since it was Gavin. Ignoring the sudden twinge of annoyance in his brain, Ryan asked back, "for what?" His question was quickly answered by the brunette nudging the glass closer to the masked man, obviously hinting at what he wanted him to do.

Ryan shook his head at the offer, pushing the cup back towards the brunette. "No thanks. I told you I don't drink." Gavin pouted in response and folded his arms on the table. "Weak." He grumbled in a disappointed tone. "But I already bought both of them. What am I supposed to do, drink them both?" The Vagabond shrugged his shoulders up. "I guess? Or you could give it to someone else."

Gavin sighed loudly and took the drink back. "Nah. If it's not you getting drunk off your arse then it's no fun." the masked man cocked an eyebrow. "You think I couldn't take one glass of beer?" The brunette suddenly made shifty eyes as he looked away, taking hold of the cup in front of him and beginning to drink as an embarrassed look etched on his face. Ryan suddenly smirked at the expression, knowing it meant that Gavin couldn't hold his alcohol.

He made a split decision in that moment to tease the other man. "Gee, it's as if /you/ can't handle it instead? Is that true? Are you a lightweight?" Gavin's eyes cut towards Ryan, continuing to drink as he glared at him. When he pulled away for a breath he replied back. "No. I can handle it. Watch me." He was getting defensive, clearly. After his reply he proceeded to chug down the rest of the glass, and Ryan instantly regretted opening his mouth. Well, no going back now; the Brit looked determined to prove him wrong.

Half way through the chug, Gavin coughed and gagged on the liquid, but he wasn't giving up, and was able to get it down. Without another word, he moved on to the next one and started chugging it down too. "Woah, woah! Easy there! I believe you!" Ryan yelled quickly, making an attempt to get Gavin to stop trying to kill himself. It seemed to work, because the brunette pulled the drink away from his lips and sat it down. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, groaning. "I feel sick." His voice strained out.

"Yeah, no shit, idiot." The Vagabond sighed and leaned back in his chair, suddenly feeling exhausted. "It's not smart to chug alcohol." Gavin looked back up at the other and gave him the saddest puppy dog eyes he could muster. "But you dared me to." At that moment, Ryan felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He wasn't sure what to say to make it up to him. ". . .Sorry." Was all he muttered in response. "Sorry isn't going to help. It's too late to back out now." Gavin took another drink of the beer, gagging soon after. He seemed determined to finish it.

"Geez. Just finish it slowly and then go get some water or something. No more alcohol for you." There had to be at least a pint of beer in each cup, and seeing how skinny Gavin was. . .Ryan was beginning to get a bad feeling all of a sudden. But despite that, the British moron continued to take drink after drink until he finally finished both of them off. The Vagabond stared at the brunette, waiting to see if he was going to vomit, because it sure looked like it. His eyes glazed over and his face flushed a deep red. His face twisted in pain. The Vagabond waited minutes upon minutes, waiting for the other to speak, or do anything but sit there staring at the table.

Breathing more evenly now, Gavin groaned and stood up. Ryan watched him, assuming he was going to go run to the bathroom, but instead he quietly walked, more like stumbled, over to the dart board. "Let's go." He called over to Ryan, and that's when it hit him. . .Gavin was definitely buzzed. "So he can't hold his alcohol after all. . .it's light beer." The Vagabond mumbled as he shook his head, but he soon after stood to his feet and followed the brunette, if nothing but to keep him from falling on his face. "Alright, I'm here. What is it?"

Gavin, swinging around to face the taller man, held up a dart, nearly stabbing himself in the eye as he lost his balance and staggered about. "I bet you two hundred bucks I can nail the bull seye with one. . ." He burped loudly, which interrupted his sentence. But he forgot what he was saying anyway and continued speaking. "Bondy, give it a go. Let me first, then you." Ryan cocked an eyebrow again, not really understanding his nonsense, but he stood by and watched as the brunette threw the dart, it falling just a couple feet in front of him and onto the floor. "Dammmmmit." Gavin mumbled and went to pick it up, but fell forward, and would have slammed his face against the wall if Ryan hadn't grabbed the back of his shirt and held him up.

"Alright tiger, I think it's time we got you home and in bed. You need to sleep." Ryan grabbed Gavin and picked him up, which was quiet easy since he weighed like nothing, and threw him over his shoulder. The brunette weakly fought back, kicking his legs around and trying to get free. "Nah man I'm good." He argued back, but The Vagabond was having none of it. "I'm putting you to bed." He strangely felt like Gavin's father at that moment, which was a creepy thought. That was quickly dashed when the Brit opened his mouth, though. "Oooh. Get me in bed? You slag."

Ryan didn't even need to know what slag meant to understand where the brunette was getting at. His face quickly turned red at the comment as he quickly made his way out of the building, almost every single eye in the place was on the two, but The Vagabond didn't pay any mind to them, he was too focused on getting Gavin home and put to sleep before he did something really stupid.

Once to the car, the masked man opened the passenger's side and gently sat Gavin down, putting his seat belt on him and shutting the door. By time Ryan got to the driver's side, the Brit was messing with his seat belt and trying to remove it. "Stop it. Leave it on." He scolded, making the drunken man huff and fold his arms. "I hope you have some wits left still so you can tell me where your house is." Even though he had already been to his house, he was still pretty clueless when it came to directions.

Luckily, it seemed Gavin understood what he meant and pointed to his house on the GPS. "Great. Then let's get going." Ryan reached for the key to the car, noticing that it was there even though he expected it not to be. Gavin had left the key in the car the whole time. Sighing, he shook his head and started it up. He'd deal with scolding the Brit about that later. For now, he just wanted this night to be over with; taking care of an adult child wasn't any fun at all. He just wanted to dump him off home and make him take care of the rest.

The drive to his house was rather interesting in the sense that Gavin kept doing anything and everything he could to piss Ryan off. Like changing directions on the GPS and rolling the windows down even though the other rolled them up four times, and he would even try to mess The Vagabond up while he was driving, which nearly caused him to wreck a good three times. By time they made it to the brunette's place, Ryan was about ready to leave him at the door and walk home.

However, that's not what he did. Instead he parked the car, walked over to Gavin's side, picked him up out of the car, and then locked the doors up. Falling in love with this guy was starting to become a pain in his ass. Making his way to the front door, Ryan had to fish the keys out of the Brit's front pocket, which earned a rather inappropriate cackle from him, but The Vagabond wasn't going to play that childish game with him at that moment.

Finally, he was able to get the drunk bastard into the house. It took him a few minutes to find where the bedroom is, since he had never actually been inside. Once he found it, he laid the brunette down and for the first time in awhile checked his face for any signs that would tell him what state he was in. His green hues were still glossy and his face was still red, but he looked rather content in that moment instead of sick and uncomfortable like he was before. His hair had gotten wrecked from all the fighting he was doing, so he looked like one of those typical wasted idiots.

It made Ryan smile a bit. He looked so silly like that, but also rather cute. Gavin must have noticed he was staring, because he gave him a smirk. "Like what ya see?" He teased, which made The Vagabond reel back like he was just burned. "Uh. Do you need anything? Water? Maybe some crackers?" He asked, stuttering his words on accident. Apparently the brunette wasn't going to let that go, either. He leaned up, using the taller male's leg as leverage and flashed a cocky grin. "Nervous? No need to be.~"

Ryan was about to reply with a defense, when Gavin fell forward against his chest. The Vagabond was about to pull him away and ask if he were alright, but as it turned out the fumble was intentional, or at least he assumed so, because in a split second the brunette went from his face plastered against Ryan's chest, to his lips plastered against Ryan's face. The brunette closed his eyes as he leaned in close to the other, wrapping his arms lazily around Ryan and giving him a sloppy kiss against his mask's mouth.

The Vagabond was quite surprised; his eyes widening and staying that way for a long while as he watched the British boy attempt to make out with his mask, if Ryan weren't so shocked, he would have found it really cute. He stared down at him for a few seconds before finally snapping out of his daze. He grabbed Gavin's shirt and pulled him off easily. Sad green eyes looked back at him and his face had a "why did you do that?" look that made the gang member's heart stop. He felt bad, but he had to stop Gavin. He was only making a pass at him because he was drunk, and nothing more.

"You're not in your right mind. You need to get some sleep." He replied back to his unasked question, to which the brunette groaned and sat back up. "I am!" He shouted, clinging to Ryan once again and going in to kiss him some more. The Vagabond was quicker to react this time and put his hands up to block the attempt. "Gavin. Stop." He said in a more firm voice, however it didn't help either way, the Brit still didn't let up.

"Please?" He stared up at him with begging eyes. Ryan wasn't sure what to do in this situation, it's not like he has ever been in one like this before! He really wanted nothing more than to kiss Gavin back, but if he did, then he would ruin everything he has built up. He couldn't let that happen. But Gavin was making it really hard, especially the way he was crawling onto him like a feline. He had both of his legs trapping The Vagabond on the bed as he sat onto the taller man's lap, squeezing his thighs against him.

Uh oh. This didn't look good for Ryan. Him being so close to his. . .

Ryan looked away quickly, trying to find any sort of distraction to keep his mind off what was happening. It was like he was dreaming. He had to be dreaming. This would never really be happening. He was home, sleeping.

If only that were the case. He was very much awake, and very much in a difficult situation and didn't know how he could get out of it. Should he try sobering the Brit up? Would that even work? He went over many scenarios in his head, each plan he came up with ended in failure when he tried to think of how it would end. He wasn't sure what he could do, so he tried to stay as still as possible so he didn't tempt Gavin any further.

It didn't seem to matter, because the brunette was continuing with the assault on the skull mask, kissing every inch of it as if it were Ryan's actual face. Eventually he seemed to grow bored of that and began to unzip The Vagabond's jacket. Sitting still wasn't working at all, as it turned out. He knew he could easily pin the Brit down and stop him, but something was keeping him from doing that. Maybe it was because he was actually enjoying what he was doing?

Allowing for the smaller man to remove his jacket, Ryan simply stared down at him and watched his movements, which were less than accurate and pretty sloppy. But he was getting what he wanted, which was disrobing Ryan, as it seemed. Gavin successfully was able to remove the jacket and his mouth went for The Vagabond's neck, his teeth scraping at the skin between his collarbone. Ryan hissed in both annoyance and also. . .pleasure? He actually enjoyed having his neck bit. That's something new he learned about himself.

Things were starting to get way out of hand, and Ryan knew if he didn't stop now, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from what he was really wanting to do. "Gavin. . .you're not a vampire. Stop it." He made another attempt to talk some sense into the Brit, but it was still to no avail; Gavin continued, his tongue lapping up at the bite marks he left behind on the taller man's skin. He seemed real eager to get somewhere with this, and it was starting to work. Ryan's pants were starting to feel uncomfortable to be in.

It took at least two minutes for Gavin to finally realize that Ryan wasn't playing along, so he decided to stop in his tracks, his face slowly turning up towards the taller man. The Vagabond thought for sure he was going to stop at that point, but it turns out he was wrong. Fluttering his eyes cutely, the brunette mumbled, "please, Bondy? I need you."

There goes another jolt to his member. He was beginning to not be able to handle it; the way the Brit touched him, the way he acted so needy and desperate. He was beginning to think maybe if he gave in, it would actually benefit both of them. But he was still on the fence. So instead, he asked, "are you really sure, Gavin?" as he looked down at the horny idiot. He got a nod in return, and that was all he needed to let himself go.


	5. Chapter 5

Within a split second, Ryan had the brunette pinned down on the bed, he trapped his arms above his head as his body molded against his; clothed pelvises grinding against each other in a teasingly slow pace that caused Gavin to groan in displeasure. Ryan smirked behind his mask, enjoying the annoyed sound he received from him as he continued with his friskful teasing; snaking his fingers up underneath the blue button up shirt and finding his way up the Brit's soft tanned skin and to his nipple. It was already perked up, which amused The Vagabond. "So turned on already? We barely started." He mocked as he ghosted his fingers over the nub, giving it a good pinch, earning himself a shrill yelp from the body beneath him.

While his fingers were working on the nub, his other hand was used to shift his mask up enough for his mouth to be exposed. Once he was able to free the lower half of his face, he leaned down towards Gavin's neck, repaying him for the bites he gave him earlier, he gently sank his teeth into the exposed part of his skin. His free hand began to work on unbuttoning the blue shirt; starting from the top to the bottom, he slowly opened up one after the next until they were all undone. Having more access to the Brit's naked torso, he moved his mouth down to his collarbone, gliding his tongue across the ridge of bone before going in for another nip.

Gavin seemed to be enjoying it, because he was giving quiet encouraging noises as his hand rested on the back of Ryan's head, holding him against his neck as he continued his work. The Vagabond soon grew bored of just playing with the Brit's nipple, so he abandoned that idea and instead ran his hand down Gavin's small waist and found his way to the hem of his trousers, quickly noticing that there was a belt blocking his way from his goal.

Cursing under his breath, Ryan wasted little time in playing tug of war with Gavin's belt until he was finally able to yank it off and toss it to the floor. Luckily for him, the brunette was too drunk to care about the sudden pause in their little tussle. Going back to what he was doing, Ryan unhooked Gavin's jean button and unzipped them, grabbing the front of his jeans and jerking them a couple inches down so that he had better access. His hand reached down the Brit's boxers and he quickly found his member, taking it into his hand and wrapping his fingers around it. His thumb smoothed over the tip and pulled the foreskin down a few centimeters before rubbing the sensitive flesh in circular motions.

The Brit arched up out of his laying position and moaned loudly at the sensation of being touched by the Vagabond's warm hands. His arms wrapped around Ryan's shoulders tightly, his fingers squeezing into the back of his shirt. The Vagabond began to move his fingers slowly up and down along the length of his member. Eventually, the agonizing speed he was going was too much for the brunette, and he whined loudly while attempting to thrust himself into the masked man's hand. "Please. Stop teasing me and just do it."

The pained sound of his voice was enough to cause Ryan to feel bad about how long he was taking to relieve him. So instead of prolonging it and dragging the foreplay out for too long, he decided to just get to the main event. After all, they were both clearly ready and didn't need to be anymore ready than they already were. The Vagabond wasn't very experienced when it came to sexual situations, so he wasn't really sure which steps to take first. He especially wasn't experienced when it came to sleeping with men, since Gavin was his first. But he knew enough. He thought.

He knew that when two men had sex, they were supposed to. . .lube up. However, he looked around in a desperate attempt to find some, but wasn't exactly sure where to look. Gavin stared up at him with an impatient look before point over his shoulder at a dresser next to him. "Top drawer." He muttered. He must have understood what Ryan was looking for, which he was grateful for, because he was too embarrassed to ask for it out loud. He leaned over Gavin and opened up the drawer, quickly finding a small tube that must have had the lube in it. "Why do you. . .Never mind, I don't want to know." He muttered before he popped off the cap with less than patient speed and got to work hastily, squirting a glob onto his finger tips. He looked from his hand to Gavin's body, and then got an idea. He smirked, and since his mouth was uncovered Gavin was able to see it clearly, which was obvious because then got a terrified look on his face. "Gav.~" He chimed cheerfully, causing the Brit to tense up. "Yeah?" He stuttered.

"Why don't you remove your pants for me. I can't since I have lube all over my hands." He commanded in a lewd and smooth voice. Gavin looked at him with wary eyes, as if the request was some kind of trick. Watching his drunk mind trying to work was pretty fascinating. After a moment of thinking, the Brit finally did as he was told and slid down his trousers, along with his boxers, until they were down to his ankles; kicking off his shoes in the meantime. He had a little trouble doing it since he was uncoordinated at the moment, but Ryan secretly helped him pull them all the way off. Now the brunette was left with no bottoms and only his opened blue shirt to protect his skin from the air.

"Very nice." Ryan complimented as he looked down at Gavin, taking in his body as a whole. "Now." He leaned in, his knees pressing into the bed as his body lurched forward until he was an inch from Gavin's face. He stared him in the eyes as he slid his lubed fingers down to the Brit's entrance, circling his fingertip around to evenly coat the surface and pushing a finger in all the way in to the knuckle. The brunette hissed quietly when Ryan curled up his digit and uncurled it, then repeated a couple times. The brunette began to mewl and whine into Ryan's ear, which caused the older man to blush an insane amount. He guided his finger half way out before easing it back in, then added his second finger in, twisting them sideways and hitching them upward, which drove the brunette crazy and caused him to squeeze himself around Ryan's fingers.

Once there was a generous amount of the cream coating Gavin's hole, Ryan removed his finger and sat back, gazing down at him with a sly grin. "Alright. Now prepare yourself while I watch." He commanded, causing Gavin's face to go even more red than it already was. "What?" He replied, to which Ryan sighed and moved his hand down to his own jeans, unzipping them and lowering them to his hips. "Did I stutter? I said finger yourself." He freed his own hard-on and took his lube covered hand, placing it against the organ and beginning to pump himself as he watched the Brit. Gavin hesitated for a few moments as he watched Ryan as if he was in a trance, but was soon getting to work on his demand. His hand trailed down from his thigh down to his opening, he lifted his legs up so they were bent, giving him better access.

Once he had the tip of his finger against his entrance, he used the lube Ryan left behind to help him open himself up as one digit slipped in, and then another. He used the two to scissor himself, groaning at the stretching of his skin. He bit down on the knuckles of his free hand, moaning into his hand at the feeling of his own touches. The masked man licked his lips as he watched the scene before him, it was very erotic. Gavin was carefully preparing himself, which was an agonizing slow process, but Ryan didn't complain. He was enjoying it either way. Perhaps Gavin was used to this sort of thing? Or maybe the alcohol was numbing any pain he would have felt? He'd have to ask him about it later.

Soon enough, the brunette's movements were beginning to speed up as he was getting into it; he must have been hitting that sweet spot, Ryan figured, since his face was twisted up in pleasure and he was arching his back up off the bed. His entrance was nicely slicked up and he was able to move easily in and out of himself. He looked as though he would orgasm at any second, so Ryan gave a quiet chuckle. "Save some for me, will ya?" He teased, making the brunette stop in his tracks with an embarrassed look on his face. "Awe, you didn't have to stop. I was enjoying it."

Gavin mumbled under his breath and looked away with a pout. "What was that?" The Vagabond laughed. "I said. . .hurry up." Ryan looked on with a shocked face, not expecting that to be what had come from his mouth. He soon gave a smirk as he leaned in close to the Brit, his thighs meeting the back of Gavin's legs, his member an inch from its target. Gavin wrapped his legs around The Vagabond's waist in anticipation, drawing himself closer to his pelvis. Ryan didn't want to be too quick, since he didn't want to hurt him. But this horny idiot seemed too drunk to even care at that moment. Even so, he took it at a snail's pace; pressing the head of his manhood against the wet opening and teasing the rim.

It was able to slide in fairly easily, and once the Brit felt the least bit of penetration he was wiggling about in an attempt to get Ryan to go in deeper. "Jesus Christ. . ."He mumbled in annoyance, but also amusement. He was definitely not used to someone this eager. Without hesitating any longer, The Vagabond snapped his hips forward and fully buried himself inside the Brit. He didn't have time to worry about if that was the right choice or not, because Gavin's slutty sounding scream answered that for him. Wasting little time, Ryan began his attack on his rear end; aiming upwards to try to hit that sweet spot with fluent motion. He bit down on his lip hard in an attempt to stifle his voice; he didn't want to hear himself, he only wanted to hear the Brit.

Gavin had no sense of control over himself in his drunken state, so with each thrust The Vagabond made drove him closer and closer to the edge until he was eventually screaming so loud, Ryan thought for sure someone would call the police. But God, was Ryan willing to risk being caught by the cops at that moment. His movements were drawn out and sluggish at first, but soon enough he was beginning to pick up the pace the more both he and Gavin were getting sucked into the deep pleasure they felt from the friction of their bodies moving together as one.

As he slammed in deeper and with more precision, the brunette's thighs squeezed Ryan's waist; his arms wrapped tightly around his neck and hugged him so close that the masked man could barely pull himself out of the Brit. So instead of taking long and hard thrusts, he went with quick and hard, which seemed to excite Gavin even more; especially when he finally found the bundle of nerves that caused Gavin to finally tip over the edge. Ryan could tell he hit it, because the Brit gasped loudly before he roughly bit down on The Vagabond's neck, drawing out a long and sultry moan. His entrance tightened around Ryan like a vice; encouraging him to hit the same spot. So he did, over and over with erratic movements, each time his hips jerked forward he felt the pit of his stomach becoming tighter and tighter.

It had been awhile since Ryan had masturbated, so he could feel himself already coming close to the end. He wanted to make it last longer, since it looked like Gavin was still enjoying himself and didn't look like he was near to finishing. Once he felt himself building up to the orgasm, he deliberately lulled his hips down to a more gentle motion, successfully stalling his release for the time being. It took a lot to be able to stop himself from coming already, but he did it for Gavin, so that he could finish first.

Ryan placed one hand on Gavin's hip, and the other around his manhood, helping him along by jerking him, moving his hand in rhythm with his thrusting. His hand dug into the fleshy part of the brunette's thigh as his chest pressed up against the other's; their bodies seeming to merge into one and molding together in perfection. A second time, Ryan felt his end coming near, quicker than the first time. His eyes were glued on Gavin's face, taking in every line and freckle of his else mattered to him in that moment, just him and the Brit were the only things in the world. He closed his eyes tightly as both the movements to his pelvis and hand quickened, his vision going white for a split second, and without realizing it, he allowed himself to keep going until he released his seed deep inside of the brunette. It was a relieving feeling after holding it in.

The Vagabond looked back down at Gavin to see if he was disappointed that he had finished so quickly, but he looked down between their bodies, seeing the white fluids that were sticking between their stomachs and realized Gavin had also came when he did. He was rather flattered. The brunette's legs slipped from Ryan's waist, and his arms loosened a bit but he still clung to him closely. His eyes fluttered close before sliding open again; eyes glazed, face content and relaxed. He looked like he would fall asleep at any second. Ryan decided to take that chance to lean down, capturing Gavin's lips with his own to steal a chaste kiss.

Gavin didn't seem to notice, since he was already half asleep. He mumbled against Ryan's lips and his eyes slipped close. The gang member pulled away, smiling happily at the sleeping face of the Brit. He looked rather cute and peaceful, however, Ryan was left to clean up. He, too, was feeling tired, so he maneuvered himself out of Gavin's arms and carefully guided his softening manhood from inside him. It was a pain in the ass, but he knew he would have to find something to clean them both up with. After zipping up his jeans, he felt around the room until he found the door leading back out into the hallway. The light blinded him for a moment; he ignored the stinging in his eyes as he made his way to the bathroom, stumbling through the door due to the strength leaving his legs after that little romp.

After yanking open door after door to the cabinets, he finally found what he was looking for: a towel. Once he was finished with his scavenging hunt, he made quick work of wiping off the sticky liquid from his black shirt. That would probably stain, and he'd have to throw it out. Didn't really matter since he had like 20 of them at home. He then headed back to the bedroom, almost getting lost along the way; he was pretty out of it when he was tired. Gavin was sprawled out on the bed, sound asleep by time he returned. Ryan knelt against the bed and cleaned up any traces of seminal fluid he could find on Gavin, and then tossed the towel onto the floor lazily.

As soon as everything was cleaned up, Ryan wasted no time in laying down on the bed next to the Brit and curling up beside him, falling asleep right along with him in less than a minute of closing his eyes. The exhaustion was enough to cause him to fall asleep rather quickly.

An hour slipped by into the night, Ryan began to stir in his rest until he found himself slowly coming back to consciousness. The only thing he could see was blackness, and for a second he panicked, until he sat up and saw he was sat right next to the British idiot that had gotten himself drunk and somehow talked him into sleeping with him. Ryan stared down at his sleeping form, taking in every inch of his body with his eyes. He was a sight to behold, who would be able to deny him?

The Vagabond groaned quietly, palming his head with his hand. He had a huge headache. Feeling leather beneath his hand, he was relieved that he at least had the sense to keep his mask on the whole time. Although sleeping in it was less than pleasurable. He probably would have suffocated if he had slept the whole night.

Like a light switch, Ryan finally realized what he had just done. He went over the details of what he had done to the man he had come to love, how he had taken advantage of him. Gavin was drunk, he wasn't in his right mind at that moment when he said he wanted to have sex. He probably wouldn't have agreed at all if he were sober. Ryan felt horrible, like he was no better than that man that tried to sexually assault Gavin the other night. Would he be angry with him when he finds out? Will he never want to see him again?

It was possible, and that alone made The Vagabond feel sick to his stomach. He did the one thing he didn't want to do, ruin the friendship he was building up. When Gavin wakes up and remembers what he did to him, he'd surely come to hate him. It was too late to go back now, though. What's done is done. "Sorry, Gav. . ." Ryan muttered under his breath as he rested his hand down on the sleeping Brit's face, caressing his tanned cheek before placing a feather light kiss to his forehead. "I hope I can make it up to you some day. . ." He didn't think of the words before they came out of his mouth, but once they were said, he understood what they meant. He would have to leave Gavin and stay away from him. For how long, he wasn't sure. At least long enough to get over the feelings he has buried inside him. So, possibly he'd have to avoid him forever.

Ryan reluctantly pulled away from Gavin, saying one last finally goodbye before he picked up his jacket from the floor and tiptoed out of the bedroom, into the blinding hallway, and out into the cold and bitter streets. The frozen air only made him feel worse, like it was physically slapping him in the face for being such a horrible person. As he made his way back home, he knew he deserved it.


	6. Chapter 6

Green eyes twitched in the darkness, slowly cracking open as they take in the small amount of light pouring in from the window. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust, but once they did, Gavin realized he had a huge headache. His brain pounded and urged him to close his eyes again, but he tried to fight it off, sitting up slowly and carefully. "Bugger me. What the hell did I get into last night." He muttered to himself, his memories gradually coming back to him as he looked around the room, seeing his clothing thrown around the floor carelessly.

Bit by bit he began to put the pieces together like a puzzle. He remembers meeting up with The Vagabond and going to their usual spot. Then he drank a little, played some darts, came home, then. . .

Gavin groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the pang in his head. Things were still a little fuzzy, and he mostly thought what had happened was a dream. But seeing the state of his bedroom, and the hint of a soreness in his behind, he realized it wasn't. He and the masked man had sex. And as Gavin recalled more and more details, he could remember he was the one who initiated it. He wasn't surprised, really, because he had always been attached to The Vagabond ever since they first met. Sure he had been scared of him, but he also saved him! Who wouldn't fall in love with someone who saved their lives countless times?

The brunette slowly laid his body back down as he stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't just because he saved him, it was many things about the mysterious masked man that drew him in. It was his intelligence, the way he cared so much about him, and his clever and witty remarks. Everything about him reminded him of Michael, besides the fact that he wasn't as angry towards him as Michael had been. He had really been wanting to tell the man how he felt, but he figured that he hasn't even told him his real name, or shown him his face. . .so there was no way he felt the same way for him. Gavin must have just been an annoying hindrance to him, and that hurt.

Turning on his side, Gavin stared at the digital clock beside his bed. It was too bright to stare at, but he didn't care; he stared anyway. It was four in the morning, and the Brit was exhausted and felt sick to his stomach, but he was too upset to fall back asleep. He had pushed himself onto the guy he had come to develop feelings for. He made a real fool of himself and probably chased him away for good. The Vagabond probably only slept with him out of pity. Not only did he get mugged all the time and couldn't protect himself, but he also got himself piss drunk and acted like a desperate whore. It was embarrassing.

Turning back onto his back, the Brit sighed loudly and forced himself to get up into a sitting position, standing onto his feet and making his way to the bathroom. Along the way, he picked up his discarded pants and shirt. It was four, so maybe The Vagabond was still out. He could always find him and try to apologize to him, maybe ask if he still wanted to be friends. Once he began to walk, the forward motion caused his stomach to stir. A wave of nausea hit him like a ton of bricks. He dropped to his knees in front of the toilet and emptied the contents of his stomach, lurching forward and gagging as bright yellow fluids came from inside his stomach. He really shouldn't have drank that beer so fast.

After the first wave hit, another one soon followed, and he found himself vomiting three times until it finally subsided for the time being. Staggering to his feet, Gavin grabbed the side of the sink and slapped the handle to turn the cold water on. He couldn't waste too much time, he needed to go find his masked friend.

Once he got himself cleaned up and dressed, he was out the door quickly, all the while muttering to himself how stupid he was. He took his car and started it, taking off into the quiet city. His eyes were still a bit blurred from his killer headache, and his stomach was screaming at him to go back to the bathroom because it was going to explode, but he ignored everything his body was telling him; he was determined to find The Vagabond. There was still a chance he was walking around somewhere, since he's always around these parts of town late at night.

Each face he past, he looked to see if any one of them had a skull mask, but there was no successful results. Just normal faces. A couple people noticed him staring, and glared at him back as if they were expecting him to rob them. He chose to ignore them and continued on with his search. He lapped around the city at least three times, and before he knew it, the sun began to appear in the sky. The darkness was being chased away by the rising sun and more and more people were waking up to get ready for work; cars filled the streets one by one.

Gavin looked at the clock in his car. It was 7:30 am. The Vagabond wouldn't be out when the morning hits, for whatever reason he doesn't come out in the morning. There was one instance when they stayed out all night and as soon as the sun started to come up he was in a hurry to get home. The Brit thought maybe he was a vampire. But of course that was a dumb idea. Unless this was a Twilight book, there was slim chances of that being the case. Gavin didn't question it though, he just took it how it was. In fact, there was a lot he didn't question about The Vagabond, even though he was curious. He just didn't want to step over any boundaries just yet.

There were no signs of the masked man, so Gavin decided to give up for the night. He would be sure to check again once night falls. No matter how long it takes or how hard it will be, he was going to find The Vagabond. But for now, he had to head back home and get some sleep before it was time for work. He had almost forgotten he had to be in later in the day. He was thinking of just calling in sick since his stomach was still giving him problems, but he knew he needed the money.

So it was back home he went, a quick shower, and back to bed until 4 PM when he would start his shift. He tucked into the sheets, newly changed since the old ones were dirty, and made an attempt to fall back asleep. It was no easy task, not only because he wasn't feeling well physically, but also because mentally he was feeling uneasy. He wasn't used to feeling this stressed about anything in his life, he usually takes everything in stride and goes with the flow. But there was something about the idea of losing his new friend that made him sick to his stomach. He couldn't let that happen.

Eventually he had fallen asleep and was able to get a whopping two full hours before he was awake again. The sickness he was feeling had died down, but he was still feeling depressed. It wasn't nearly time to get ready, so in a last attempt to get enough sleep to be able to function, Gavin closed his eyes and focused on resting.

It was in vain, however, because no matter how hard he tried, he just ended up being woke up by some unknown force an hour or two later. He was in the middle of his fifth attempt to sleep when his alarm for work had gone off. With a groan, the Brit shifted off the bed and went to get himself ready; not looking forward to the day ahead of him.

Work was always brutal, but it was tolerable. It was mundane, just a simple office job. He was in charge of filing the reports for the boss and whatever else was needed of him. The boss's pet is what everyone called him, which wasn't a fair nickname, because the boss seemed to hate him more than anyone else in that workplace. Every day Gavin would clock in for work, try to socialize with his coworkers, only to be shut out and ignored. No one seemed to want to talk to him. So he would get on with his work, looking over the payrolls, checking the billing statements, getting the manager his coffee.

Every day it seemed like the head of the office grew more and more tired of seeing Gavin's face. Whatever it was, there was something about the Brit that people seemed to hate. Walking into the office, Gavin cleared his throat and sat down a cup of the hot beverage his manager requested. "Here you are, Mr. Ramsey, Sir." He said with what was an attempt to be polite, but came out more stuck up than he had intended. "I told you to call me Geoff." The boss replied in return, turning his attention onto the brunette. "After all, we're friends, are we not?"

The tone he used in that phrase told Gavin they were indeed NOT friends. The Brit stared at the desk for a few moments before forcing a smile. "Sure." He muttered. "We're friends. Take care." He spun on his heels to leave the room and head back to his own work, when Geoff cleared his throat, causing Gavin to stop in his tracks and turn back to him. Looking at the man, you wouldn't really expect him to be the type to be in control of a business. His arms were covered in tattoos, even though they were hidden behind sleeves, it was easy to see them climbing down to his hands and fingers. His tired eyes always looked on with irritation and a glint of an "always drunk" gaze. His facial hair was something out of an old timey superhero movie; the typical "bad guy" mustache. The only "boss" thing going for him was the fact that he always wore the same black suit every day. Come to think of it. . .had Gavin seen that suit somewhere else before?

Before he could finish his thoughts, Geoff pushed himself off the chair he was sitting in and walked towards the Brit, eyeing him up before leaning in close to his ear, whispering. "You'll see soon enough how much of a "friend" I can be." He then finished with giving Gavin a pat on the shoulder before taking his leave of his office and leaving Gavin extremely confused and worried from the way he said that. But he didn't have time to care about that, he had a lot of paperwork that needed to be done before he left. So brushing off the weird comment, Gavin made his way back to his own office with a quick pace; his eyes peering around to make sure no one was slacking off, not that he ever did anything when they were, anyway.

Once he sat down, he breathed a sigh of relief that he was finally going to be able to do something productive for the day. He got out the report, slapped it down on the desk, put the pen to the paper, and then. . .stared. Eyes met words, but they were never read. His hand didn't move a single inch from the position he had started in. Something was. . .off.

Heaving a sigh, the brunette sat the pen down and scratched his head. Of course something was off, something was always off when it came to it being his life. He's hit with bad luck no matter where he goes. He got stuck with a crap job, no friends, his lover was killed, he gets mugged almost every single week, crashes his car every other week, and now when he had finally started to become happy again, he goes and ruins it. The Vagabond was easily the only good thing about Gavin's life, and now he doesn't even have that.

The Brit made a few pathetic attempts to focus on his work, but couldn't get into it. Eventually he put the blank report into his desk and got up from his seat, walking out of the office and into the crowded hallways of the building. He didn't notify his boss that he was leaving, but he didn't really care if Geoff would be angry with him or not. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a clock hanging on the wall, briefly noting that it was 8 PM. He had been sitting there doing nothing for a good two hours and hadn't realized it. He supposed depression did that to people, but he wasn't sure; he rarely got it.

Once out into the parking lot, he got into his car and started it up. He needed to get away from work for now; it wasn't doing him any good. He knew the one place he could go that would calm him down: the graveyard. It was a short drive away, so it only took him about five minutes to drive to the location.

Once he arrived, he parked next to the fence around the side of the yard to keep it out of public view. He got out of the car and climbed up the side of the hill that connected to the flat ground that held the gravestones. It was a small cemetery; mostly only holding those who were labeled criminals. Gavin never understood why they buried Michael here when he died, because he wasn't a criminal. But everyone was hush-hush about it when he would ask. The main reason the graveyard was so poorly maintained was because not many people got buried here, and no one cared to come visit people like these. Gavin rarely saw anyone else around whenever he would come out to pay his respects.

To him, it mattered very little where Michael was buried; he still would visit him no matter where he was. Every time he would kneel by the headstone that he had paid for, because no one else would, and he would talk to him just like they would when he was alive. The pain never subsided no matter how often he would do this ritual; he would still feel the sting of losing a loved one. But he couldn't stop, couldn't abandon him.

Dropping down to his knees beside the headstone, Gavin took a deep breath and looked down at the ground where he knew his friend lay. "Hey, Michael. I'm sorry it's been awhile since I last came to visit. I just, you know. . ." He scratched his cheek and chuckled, feeling nervous even though he knew he were really talking to no one. "Well, it's kind of awkward bringing my new friend around here. And since we have been hanging out more often recently, I. . . " He paused in in statement and frowned, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Sorry, boy. I promised I wouldn't fall for anyone else but you. Turns out I couldn't keep my promise."

He took a deep breath before he continued. "Look, here's the thing, okay. . .Um. He's just a really cool bloke, you know? Like, he reminds me a lot of you. And also. . ." He paused, scratching his head and looking away. "He means a lot to me. You still mean a lot to me, too, but. . .I hope you understand. He makes me feel safe, and I feel like I can just tell him anything. He's got this scary aura about him, but he lets me get away with a lot." He grinned happily before continuing. "I call him a right prick all the time and he just doesn't seem to care. It's a lot of fun. He's a funny chap, he is." His smile faded a bit, eyes lowering down to his lap.

"I don't know what to do, Michael. I feel like I bollocks up everything. Things were going great, and then I. . .Well not getting into any details, I pretty messed up. I'm not really sure what to do now." He stared down at the slab of rock for a full minute before standing up to his feet quickly. "I know, I have to find him and set things right. That's what you would have wanted me to do, right?" He smiled faintly before saying one last goodbye. "I gotta go, boy. But I promise I'll be back. See you later, Michael." The Brit quickly made his way out of the graveyard and back to his car, jumping in and taking off back into the streets.

It was already dark, but it wasn't late enough for Gavin to run into The Vagabond just yet. He had spent nearly half an hour at the cemetery, so it was nearing 9 PM. The earliest Gavin has ever seen his masked friend was 11 PM, so he still had a couple hours to grab something to eat; he realized he hadn't eaten all day.

Finding something to do for two hours turned out to be difficult when the only thing on his mind at that moment was finding The Vagabond, so after taking about an hour to finish a quick meal he picked up at a fast food restaurant, he was out yet again searching for anyone wearing a mask. Street after street he looked, checking everyone's face for any sign of a skull. None proved to be who he was looking for, but he wasn't going to give up. He knew The Vagabond was going to be out, he just had to be. He was out and about every night. If he had to wait for him, he sure would. He would drive around and wait until morning if he had to. Anything to find him.

One hour slipped by, and then two, and then three. It was approaching 1 am with an agonizing slowness, and yet still he couldn't find hide nor hair of the leather clad man. The brunette had to stop and get gas every hour, which was draining his budget quickly. But he didn't care; he was determined, and nothing was going to hold him back. He drove around the city one last time before something hit him like a brick wall: every time he has seen The Vagabond, he had been around the same part of town, so why would he be anywhere different?

Gavin sighed and laid his head against the steering wheel. He very may well have wasted a lot of time and gas going around the city where the man he was looking for rarely ventured. There was a very small chance he was anywhere on the other side of the city, even though that's where he claimed to live, which made no sense to Gavin. But the fact of the matter was, he's always in the south side of Los Santos, so that's where he should be looking. Propping himself back up and veering the car in reverse, the Brit hightailed it back down towards his house.

Once back in the south side of the city, he drove by a couple more people. He checked their faces, and his heart dropped when he spotted one of them. A man in a suit and a bison mask, just like the other night. He didn't seem to notice him, though, which Gavin was relieved about. He quickly made a turn, watching the bison masked man turning the other corner and disappearing into the night. The brunette sighed and continued his search, making sure to be extra careful with making it obvious that he was looking for someone.

Half an hour past, no sign of The Vagabond, but he could feel inside his chest that he was getting close to his goal. If he looked just a bit more, maybe he would find him. He was beginning to get tired, though, and contemplated just going back home and sleeping for an hour or two, but he sucked it up and continued his search. Every few blocks he would get out of his car and check the allies, even though it was dangerous and he risked being mugged again. Maybe getting mugged wouldn't be so bad, after all, The Vagabond was always there whenever he did, which made Gavin feel sort of like a princess. It was nice.

No one seemed to be in the mood to mug him that night, though. In fact, he was beginning to see less and less people in the streets and the corners than he just had half an hour ago. Where was everyone? The Brit wondered to himself if perhaps the reason why there weren't anyone around was because they were being chased away. He noticed a lot of times when people see the skull mask The Vagabond always wore, they would get frightened and run away. Gavin couldn't figure out if it was because of the mask, or the man behind the mask. There was still so much the Brit didn't know about his friend, that he wanted to know about.

Walking back to his car, he made a reach for the handle when he heard what sounded like two people fighting in the alley next to him. His heart picked up a quick pace, and he froze like a deer in headlights. That was really close to him, and whoever was attacking could very well kill their victim and come for him next if they see him. He fumbled with the door handle to his car and whipped it open quickly, putting one foot in before a voice made him stop. One of the men yelled, but he couldn't make it out. However, he did recognize the tone of voice.

That was definitely The Vagabond. He'd recognize his voice anywhere. There was no hesitation at that point; if his friend was in trouble he wanted to do what he could to help, even if there wasn't much he could do. He had to repay him for all the times he had saved him. So, without a second to spare, Gavin took off and ran towards were the sounds were coming from. In the distance his eyes caught what looked like an aggressive fight between two wolves. Bodies were moving every which way and they were both being tossed around into the wall, tripping over each other and stumbling around in the dark.

In a split second, a car had drove by the alley and Gavin could see in that moment The Vagabond quite clearly, his skull mask painted in red, his eyes shining over with rage, he saw every detail of his body. In front of him, there was the same man Gavin had saw before, bison mask staring at a black and red skull before him. The other man looked hurt, a lot more hurt than The Vagabond looked. The Brit froze in his steps, he was frightened by the scene before him, and he was confused. He didn't understand what was going on, didn't understand why his friend was attacking another man, but he knew there had to be a reason. The Vagabond was a good guy deep inside his heart, and he knew that. So there had to be an explanation. This wasn't the same guy he knew and fell in love with.

Beside the bison masked man, Gavin noticed another lump of shadows. It looked like a dead body, but the Brit wasn't completely sure. He tried taking in everything at once, but it was just too much for him. The suit wearing man slid against the wall, clearly in pain and about to pass out from his injuries, and that's when Gavin saw The Vagabond going in for the kill. Without thinking, the brunette leaped forward from his spot; forcing his legs to work as he dashed forward towards the two men. His voice got caught in his throat, but he was able to scream one word. "Stop!" The Vagabond reacted to the sound and stopped his attack, and without any time to even blink, green eyes met blue and in an instant everything halted.

Gavin's legs refused to move anymore, and he was stiff in his spot. A cold chill ran up his spine, and at first he wondered briefly if it was because of the weather, or because of the icy glare The Vagabond had given him. A sharp pain stuck him; he felt it in his chest and it ran all the way up to his neck. Taking a moment to question what had happened, he didn't have to wonder long once his eyes trailed from The Vagabond's face, down to his arm, and to his hand that was attached to a knife handle that was sticking out of the brunette's left breast. His body went numb and his brain ran on adrenaline. He couldn't think of anything as he felt himself losing strength in his legs.

Dropping down to the ground, the Brit tried to hold himself up using the masked man's arm, but his vision was quickly fading on him. Was this it? Was he dying? There was no flash of his life before his eyes like he heard so much about, instead it was just darkness surrounding his vision and pain retching his body; holding him tightly like a vice. With the last of his strength, he knew he had to at least say something to his friend. His brain wasn't functioning for him, though. The only thing he managed to get out was a weak statement. "Please stop." He wasn't even sure what he was asking him to stop, but he knew something had to be done. Gavin's conscious was quickly slipping away from him, and he wasn't sure if he was even closing his eyes anymore, all knew he was he couldn't see, and his body was getting more numb by the second. Soon enough, he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, and his mind faded from everything around him as he lost consciousness.

What lame last words.


End file.
